Energy bills are too high. Families and businesses have struggled to keep up with costs that have soared in recent years – squeezing household budgets and leaving millions worried about how they will get by.
That is why I know the news that the energy price cap is expected to fall by 7% in July — around £129 per year — will be welcomed by Standard readers, and families up and down the country. It will mean working people can keep more of their money in the coming months.
But this is a long way from job done.
The government is relentless in our pursuit of bringing down bills for good. And we know the only way to do that is to get off the rollercoaster of fossil fuel markets controlled by dictators and petrostates.
Fossil fuel shocks have caused half of Britain’s recessions since 1970, and in the years since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine we have seen how vulnerable we are to the impact of geopolitical events.
Building clean homegrown power is the only way to take back control and protect billpayers from repeated price spikes. That is why the government is driving the most ambitious upgrade to Britain’s energy infrastructure in generations through our Plan for Change.
We will continue to take on the dogma of those who would keep us hooked on expensive, insecure fossil fuels when we can choose cheaper, clean homegrown energy instead
We’ve already consented enough wind and solar projects to power 2 million homes, secured more than £40 billion of investment in clean energy announced since July, lifted the onshore wind ban and set up Great British Energy – Britain’s first publicly owned energy company in more than 70 years.
Every solar panel, every wind turbine and every piece of grid infrastructure we build helps get us off the fossil fuel rollercoaster so we can bring down bills once and for all.
And as we take back control of our energy supply, the government is determined to do everything we can to support people struggling now. That means fighting for consumers and fixing an energy system that, for too long, frankly just hasn’t worked for them.
Earlier this year we launched a consultation on expanding the Warm Home Discount to give around six million households £150 off their bills next winter – so one in five families in the UK get this vital support.
Alongside it we are introducing new warm home standards for renters. I’ve heard heart-breaking stories from renters suffering from mould and damp. Everyone deserves a warm and safe home, which is why our plans will ensure landlords invest in the home upgrades that can bring down costs for tenants – lifting half a million private renters out of fuel poverty in the process.
And we are standing up for consumers on the issues that matter to them, including acting on standing changes and forced installation of prepayment meters, and ensuring automatic compensation for wrongdoing.
The reality is every family and business pays the price when energy costs rocket. That is why we will continue to take on the dogma of those who would keep us hooked on expensive, insecure fossil fuels when we can choose cheaper, clean homegrown energy instead.
This government is determined to bring the country energy security once and for all. Today’s expected figures are good news but we know we have so much more to do.
Ed Miliband is Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
